Fourth Quarter Hiring Likely To Be Sluggish

Milwaukee, WI, Sept. 8, 2009--Employers' fourth quarter hiring plans show that the labor market isn't likely to turn around soon, according to a Manpower survey.

The number of employers who are planning to hire compared to the number that are planning to shed jobs fell to its lowest level in the history of Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey, which started in 1962.

A net -3% of employers said they'll hire in the fourth quarter, down from -2% in the third quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the  survey of more than 28,000 employers.

Before this year, the survey's previous low point was a net 1% hiring outlook for the third quarter of 1982.

A year ago, a net 9% of firms said they would hire in the fourth quarter. The Manpower survey measures the percentage of firms planning to hire minus those intending layoffs. Manpower doesn't measure the number of jobs.

There was one positive sign in the survey: 69% of employers said they planned no change in their hiring plans, up from 67% in the third quarter and 59% in the fourth quarter a year ago (those figures are not seasonally adjusted).

That's "a very high number for our outlook survey," said Jonas Prising, president of the Americas for Manpower. That figure generally hovers at 55% or 56% in a strong economy, he said, noting that the higher figure currently signifies a high degree of stability, and "that is a precursor to growth, he said.